Students may be unaware of other campus resources that can assist them.

Study Skills: they are facing new challenges in time management, note-taking, organization, or effective
reading

Students are usually very motivated to succeed but lack the right tools or skills
for college-level work.

Students may be unable to balance work, social activities, and academic demands.

Learning: they have not yet defined their personal, effective learning processes

Many students have not been exposed to the variety of learning skills necessary for
college-level work.

Some students fail to realize that they need to employ a variety of learning skills
and strategies to fit the nature of their courses and the teaching styles of their
instructors.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Determine if the student understands the course content and provide clarification
of content, if needed.

Include advice about effective study strategies for your course in your syllabus and
call students’ attention to this at the beginning of the semester.

Encourage students to be conscious of learning strategies and to adjust them as needed.

Ask if students are utilizing other campus resources, particularly the Writing and
Learning Commons or the Mathematics Tutoring Center.

Stress the value of group study.

Encourage students who are struggling academically to speak with their course instructors.

Ask students about their personal study time and study strategies.

Encourage students to explore various strategies for analyzing and managing their
time; paper and pencil techniques such as “to do” lists, schedules, calendars, and
planners can be helpful organizational tools.

Talk to students about the note-taking strategies they use in their classes. Effective
note taking strategies such as making marginal notes, rewriting notes, giving visual
emphasis to notes, and frequent review of notes can promote learning.

Refer students to the Writing and Learning Commons and Mathematics Tutoring Center.

AVOID

Assuming the student does not understand the course material

Believing the student should know how to learn course content

Thinking the student knows about available campus resources

Tutoring Resources

The WaLC provides one-on-one writing assistance for all disciplines and small-group
tutoring sessions for many courses across the curriculum. Peer tutors are dedicated
to working with students in a supportive, collaborative learning environment.